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Differentiation: Healthy competition with Lululemon vs. Under Armour

I love fitness wear. My closet and drawers are packed full of fitness apparel from yoga pants to running skorts to dri-fit tanks. Full disclosure: I couldn’t make it through research for this blog without purchasing two tennis skirts. Under Armour and Lululemon, with market value at $9.2 billion and $8.5 billion respectively, are among the leaders in the fitness apparel industry with both having a heavy social media presence.

Under Armour has almost $3 million likes on Facebook, 350,000 followers on Twitter, 421,000 people following the company on Instagram, while Lululemon has close to 933,000 likes on Facebook, 621,000 followers on Twitter and almost 560,000 Instagram followers. Both companies have hundreds of YouTube videos. They are equally active in providing fitness advice and tips to fans of their brands.

Both are trying to diversify into different markets and are using social media to implement that strategy.

Under Amour’s all Facebook pages state “to make all athletes better through passion, design and the relentless pursuit of innovation.”

Known for its performance gear, Under Armour has typically appealed to hard-core athletes and male with the company’s emphasis early on in football and basketball. It introduced Under Armour Women in Facebook, YouTube and Twitter platforms and introduced its “What’s Beautiful” campaign targeted at female customer engagement.

Lululemon is also diversifying on social media but concentrating on men. Known primarily for its yoga clothes for women, Lululemon launched a Twitter account @lululemonmen and their main Facebook page has a cover photo of a male to help broaden its consumer base. Unlike Under Armour, Lululemon’s strategy in social media is more about a lifestyle than performance driven. “Creating components for people to live long, healthy and fun lives,” is the statement on Facebook.

The Canadian fitness company is endeavoring to have you buy into the Lululemon lifestyle with their recipes and lifestyle advice on social media channels.

Another difference between the two companies is their use of photos in social media channels. Under Armour uses photos and videos of top celebrity athlete in their social media platforms, while Lululemon has young, 20 to 30-something people on social media.

While Lululemon said it has grown all their social media organically, Under Armour took a more aggressive route with the purchase of MapMyFitness, soaring the fitness wear company into mobile app and wearable technology which integrates seamlessly into social media channels like Facebook and Twitter.

Both Under Armour and Lululemon are no strangers to public relation crisis and trying to rectify that crisis on social media. Under Armour’s high-end performance gear came under fire when the U.S. Olympic speed skating team blamed its uniform for its poor showing at the 2014 Olympics. Their communication team used bloggers and other social media sites to answer every question and didn’t place blame on the skaters. They also utilized their high-profile celebrity athletes to speak on social media channels about the uniform, stating the company had sent the Mach 39 uniform back to the research team and quickly changed the uniforms. Their use of social media helped defuse the situation with quick responses from trusted sources.

Lululemon is a different story. Lululemon’s co-founder Chip Wilson blamed “women’s fat thighs,” for the company’s product problems with its see-through pants. Lululemon did not respond quickly. In addition, Chip Wilson’s apology on YouTube was less than authentic, directing his apology to his employees and company, forgetting Lululemon’s loyal consumer base which were offended by the comments.

According to Under Armour, they are the brand for the next generation. While they don’t ignore the older crowd, but they really want to focus on 12- to 24-year-old athletes and active kids who want to get on the varsity football team, the 16-year-old who wants to play D1 volleyball. This demographic is on social media, so Under Armour needs to be there too.

For Lululemon, it’s a haven for a healthy, happy lifestyle, and that’s evident across its social platforms. Their goal with all of our social media channels is to inspire, engage and challenge. It’s about relationship-building for Lululemon. It’s also about creating a hub for health that’s more than just their products.

Under Armour and Lululemon’s strategy and demographics may differ, both companies know that social media is invaluable and necessary for maintaining and growing their customer base and increasing their sales.

Dietrich, Gina. March 18, 2014. Social Media Today. “Five Things You Can Learn from the Under Armour Olympic Crisis. Retrieved June 26, 2014 from http://socialmediatoday.com/ginidietrich/2260751/five-things-you-can-learn-under-armour-olympics-crisis

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I really enjoyed reading your blog post this week. While I normally would not have compared Under Armor and Lululemon, it seems that they’re both trying to step into the others market. I think it’s a smart move on behalf of Under Armor, who is targeting the 12-24 age demographic, to create an app that would engage the younger market. I think you did a great job identifying this market shift for each company and the steps they are taking to change their overall image.

I really enjoyed reading your blog post! I am a big fan of athletic apparel as well and I remember when the Lululemon co-founder I was disgusted because he still has never apologized to his consumers. To me that showed he did not care about his consumers and that was a turn off so I stopped shopping there and so did thousands of others. But, I really like how both companies make a social media site just for the target market that is weakest to them and trying to get them motivated to make purchases, I think its a brilliant idea.